How Did Harris Escape Slavery

Yesterday in class we read two historical fiction passages based around slavery that took place in the United States. The first passage, “An Account from the Slave Trade: Love Story of Jeffrey and Dorcas,” is about two slaves that were being sold by their master. These two slaves, Jeffrey and Dorcas, were in love and gave each other their hearts. First, Jeffrey was sold, and he took the risk of persuading his new master to purchase Dorcas, if the master did not have to offer much money. This did not work out as planned due to Dorcas being sold with four other slaves. The second passage, “Wesley Harris: An Account of Escaping Slavery,” is about a slave, Wesley Harris, attempting to escape slavery. With him on his first attempt was C. Matterson and his two brothers. On this adventure, they are betrayed by a farmer that allowed

the slaves to stay in his barn. Harris soon is retreated back to the original plantation and attempts and succeeds a second attempt of escaping. From these two passages, there are various similarities and differences.
These two passages have an assortment of similarities.

For example, these two passages were based around slavery and the main characters are both slaves. In the first passage, Jeffrey is known as chattel No. 319 which is a label given to a slave that is being sold. In the second passage, it states that Wesley Harris studied a note from the master that informed Mrs. Carroll about selling, and that Harris was going to escape the plantation. Next, they were both determined, brave risk takers. While Harris attempted to escape twice after being caught the first time, Jeffrey persuaded his master to buy Dorcas. As Jeffrey persuaded his master, he was also risking his life because this could have been considered back-talking to the master. Lastly, both of these stories have plot twists. In the love story, many readers could have potentially thought that Jeffrey and Dorcas would work for the same plantation owner, but, in the end, they get sold to different masters. There could also be a possibility that many readers thought that, when they read the story about escaping slavery, Wesley would have stopped striving for

freedom.
Since there are various similarities, there must be many differences. To start off, both of these stories contain a goal, but within this goal, are very different aspects. Jeffrey’s goal was to be with Dorcas while Harris’ goal was to escape slavery and receive freedom. Consequently, when there is a goal set, there must be a failure and a success. Wesley succeeded at his goal, and Jeffrey failed. Moreover, Jeffrey used persuasion with his master while Wesley Harris used force. Harris was relentless and pushed to escape for freedom while Jeffrey soon gave up after being denied the purchase of Dorcas. Furthermore, both of these stories include the main character getting hurt. For example, Jeffrey was hurt mentally while Harris was hurt only physically.
In conclusion, these two passages have a handful of points that are both similar and different. For example, these passages are alike because the two main characters are determined, brave risk takers. These articles are different because they contain different aspects of a goal.